The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 1256 - 1256 612 Slap in the Face (Second Update)

Chapter 1256: 612 Slap in the Face (Second Update) Chapter 1256: 612 Slap in the Face (Second Update) “`

This is awkward.

Never in sixteen years had Gu Jinyu felt such awkwardness.

How could Gu Jinyu ever have expected that the Marquis and Zhuang Yuheng would appear here in the middle of the night?

It was somewhat excusable for the Marquis to pass by, for after all, he was the owner of the Marquis Residence, but what about Zhuang Yuheng? What’s the deal with him?

How did he get here?

Thinking back on the things she’d said in her jumbled state of mind, Gu Jinyu felt utterly awful!

She could only pray that they hadn’t heard anything, yet the expressions on their faces told a completely different story.

They had heard, thoroughly, every single word crystal clear.

Gu Jinyu felt as if she had been struck by lightning, rooted stiffly to the spot.

The brothers were also quite surprised by the Marquis and Zhuang Yuheng’s arrival, all except for Gu Yan.

Zhuang Yuheng had come in Gu Yan’s carriage, so naturally, Gu Yan knew he was in the residence, and that he had gone to see the Marquis to discuss his engagement with Gu Jinyu.

In fact, Zhuang Yuheng was a man of great responsibility. Even before Gu Jinyu came to seek him out, the Marquis had already privately approached him to have him hand over the marriage contract and to put an end to their engagement.

The Marquis, fearing that Gu Jinyu would be heartbroken, had kept it from her all along, thinking that it wouldn’t be too late to let Gu Jinyu know after Zhuang Yuheng had left, since by then, there would be nothing she could do about it.

But Gu Jinyu, unaware of any of this, took an unnecessary step by finding him the day before he left, willing to elope if it meant marrying him.

Her loyalty was so strong that even if Zhuang Yuheng no longer had romantic feelings for her, he couldn’t just abandon her.

But he would never really let her carry the stigma of elopement; he decided to come to the residence one last time to discuss their marriage with the Marquis.

He intended to ask the Marquis to give her in marriage to him and promised to treat her well for the rest of his life.

They had just finished exchanging pleasantries and were about to get to the heart of the matter when a servant came to report that the younger masters were making a fuss in the garden, seemingly over Gu Jinyu’s predicament.

If it had been just a domestic issue of the Marquis Residence, Zhuang Yuheng would not have followed, but since it involved his fiancée, he decided to come along and take a look.

And what he saw was truly a big surprise.

To say he was not disappointed would be a lie, but it was not a disappointment about a relationship, but rather about human nature.

How could someone deceive everyone around them just to maintain a good reputation?

It’s just as well.

There’s no need to force oneself to spend the rest of life next to someone who does not reciprocate love.

Gu Jinyu caught every expression on Zhuang Yuheng’s face, and her already flustered heart became even more uneasy, “Your Highness… please let me explain…”

Zhuang Yuheng, however, ignored her and turned to give a bow to the Marquis, “Marquis.”

The Marquis was utterly stunned by Gu Jinyu’s words and had yet to come back to his senses.

Zhuang Yuheng called out to him several times before he came to, looking towards Zhuang Yuheng as if waking from a dream, “…You… you just said in the study that you came to my residence for some business?”

Zhuang Yuheng paused, then took out a marriage contract from his bosom: “I’ve come to return the marriage contract. Since Miss Gu is unwilling to marry me, it’s better to call off the engagement.”

“Ah… call off… yes…” The Marquis was in complete disarray.

Although he had long hoped to get the marriage contract back, now that he truly had it, why didn’t he feel… happy?

“Marquis, please keep the marriage contract safe.” Seeing that the Marquis didn’t reach out to take it, Zhuang Yuheng took the initiative to push the contract forward.

Gu Yan walked over, took the marriage contract, and said, “Alright, I’ll keep it for my father.”

Zhuang Yuheng calmly stated, “If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave.”

“You can take my carriage back,” Gu Yan said.

“Alright,” Zhuang Yuheng did not refuse.

Zhuang Yuheng now had nothing. If he didn’t take the carriage he had arrived in, he’d have to walk until his legs gave out.

Gu Yan was not short of carriages, but he didn’t owe Zhuang Yuheng anything either. Offering him the carriage was a kindness.

After all, Zhuang Yuheng had been cleaning up chicken dung for Gu Yan for so long, enabling him, the middleman, to make a substantial profit. Of course, Gu Yan would treat him a bit better.

Zhuang Yuheng turned to leave.

Gu Jinyu choked up as she called after him, “Your Highness! Your Highness!”

Zhuang Yuheng slightly turned his body but did not completely face Gu Jinyu, merely saying into the void, “I would just like to ask Miss Gu one thing, that day in the Tea House… was it really just an accident?”

Gu Jinyu’s body stiffened.

“Take care.” Without saying more and not expecting any answer, Zhuang Yuheng disappeared into the night without looking back.

As Gu Jinyu watched his profile gradually turn into a retreating figure, a powerful urge surged in her heart for an instant.

She wanted to marry him, to marry such a responsible, spineful man!

If Xiao Liulang, that little cripple, could rise to high ranks, why couldn’t Zhuang Yuheng make a comeback?

Her mind had been clouded over by the annulled engagement, and she hadn’t taken the time to think it through properly.

Zhuang Yuheng could live in Bishui Alley; how could his relationship with Gu Jiao’s family be so bad?

Gu Jiao and Xiao Liulang were favorites of both the Empress Dowager and His Majesty; perhaps Zhuang Yuheng was someone whom they had tacitly allowed to be taken in. It seems the Empress Dowager and His Majesty hadn’t entirely given up on Zhuang Yuheng!

He had a chance to turn the tide!

All this commoner status and self-imposed exile, it was all a show for the public!

The Zhuang family had caused a great catastrophe, and punishing Zhuang Yuheng was the only way to quell the public’s anger, but once that subsided, they could bring Zhuang Yuheng back to the Capital City!

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Gu Jinyu, finally realizing what she had missed, chased after Zhuang Yuheng with desperate abandon.

Without a trace, Gu Yan stretched out his foot and tripped her.

“Ah–”

Gu Jinyu fell flat on her face!

In truth, Gu Jinyu was overthinking it; neither the Empress Dowager nor His Majesty had any intention of pretending, especially the Empress Dowager. She wasn’t afraid of public outrage, nor did she fear being verbally abused.

If Zhuang Yuheng stayed in the Capital City, she wouldn’t make things difficult for him, but if he wanted to go out and make his own way, she wouldn’t stop him either.

It’s time for her to learn to let go, now that her child is grown.

Gu Jinyu was utterly unaware of this and was consumed with regret!

But now was not the time to wallow in regret. Zhuang Yuheng had left, and there were still Lord Gu and Gu Changqing, along with a few other brothers.

Gu Changqing and the others were very disappointed.

The scene tonight was orchestrated by Gu Yan, who hadn’t informed them ahead of time. Gu Changqing and Gu Chengfeng genuinely intended to help Gu Jinyu run away.

Though they felt indifferent towards Gu Jinyu, her unwavering support for the Lord of Anjun won’t allow one to feel repulsed.

“I shouldn’t have expected anything from you after all,” Gu Chengfeng said disdainfully.

Gu Changqing resumed his usual icy demeanor, “Ayan, let’s go.”

Gu Yan didn’t leave; he wanted to watch the excitement.

Gu Changqing promptly hauled him onto the horse, “It’s late, you should be sleeping. Staying up is bad for your health.”

“But I want to watch the excitement.”

“No mischief allowed.”

“Not even a little mischief?”

“You’ve been mischievous all night.”

“When have I?”

Gu Yan’s reluctant huffs gradually faded into the distance.

The shadow guards became inconspicuous once more.

Gu Chenglin also wanted to watch the show but was pulled away by Gu Chengfeng.

Only Lord Gu and Gu Jinyu were left in the garden.

Gu Jinyu, looking fragile and lost, turned to Lord Gu, “Father… please listen to my explanation…”

But Lord Gu asked in a daze, “What happened at the Tea House?”

Gu Jinyu’s face changed, “Father–”

Lord Gu looked deeply into her eyes, “The Tea House, Zhuang Yuheng was drugged, and you nearly got taken advantage of by him, is that it?”

Suddenly, Gu Yan emerged from behind a tree, “Of course not! She saw Zhuang Yuexi planning something sinister, followed her to join in on the excitement, and ended up witnessing the Lord of Anjun get drugged! It wasn’t the Lord of Anjun who dragged her in from the doorway! She went in on her own willingness!”

Gu Changqing helplessly rubbed his forehead and grabbed Gu Yan, “Alright, have you finished speaking? Can we go back to sleep now?”

“I haven’t said enough,” Gu Yan broke free from Gu Changqing’s embrace. He had wheedled Gu Changqing into using their light-footed skills to bring him here—he’d come here with difficulty and wanted to finish what he had to say.

He yelled across half the garden to Lord Gu, “The Lord of Anjun told her to run! She wouldn’t flee! The Lord of Anjun couldn’t control himself and was compelled to stab himself!”

“She kept saying ‘Lord of Anjun, what’s wrong with you? What happened? Do you want me to get you a doctor?’ Get a doctor my ass! You watched Zhuang Yuexi drug him; you know what’s wrong with him!”

Gu Changqing couldn’t bear to listen any longer, shaking with anger, “Who taught you to speak such nonsense!”

Gu Yan used to be well-behaved, but ever since the Marquis of Xuanping moved into Bishui Alley, Gu Yan has become increasingly unruly!

“I—”

Gu Yan wanted to continue, but his mouth was covered, and he was swept up by Gu Changqing who carried him away using their light-footed skills out of the residence.

Lord Gu was not interested in the entanglements between Zhuang Yuexi and Zhuang Yuheng; he only cared about the role Gu Jinyu played in all this.

He clenched his fist and looked at her, “Is what Gu Yan said true?”

If this were Gu Jiao making these claims, Lord Gu wouldn’t believe a word and think that Gu Jiao was framing Gu Jinyu.

To put it bluntly, he didn’t understand Gu Jiao well enough.

But he understood Gu Yan. Does Gu Yan need to frame Gu Jinyu when he bullies her? He does it openly!

I bully you, what can you do about it! Everyone in the family dotes on me because I’m sick!

That’s Gu Yan for you.

Moreover, there’s an important point—the matter did not involve Gu Jiao. Whenever Gu Jiao is connected, Lord Gu is almost unconditionally biased towards Gu Jinyu.

But now with only Gu Yan and Gu Jinyu involved, Lord Gu was able to view the entire matter more rationally.

As long as Gu Yan mentioned Anjun’s feelings towards Gu Jiao, the whole matter would have been ruined.

Gu Jinyu opened her mouth, “Father… I…”

If Gu Jinyu’s sole reason was unwillingness to endure hardship at the border pass while also wanting to gain a good reputation, it might have been considered just a little vanity of a young lady. But taking advantage of the situation to scheme and marry the Lord of Anjun—this was truly heartbreaking.

Lord Gu turned away in disappointment, holding his chest.

His heart ached terribly.

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